E-Day Watch Party

Every ballot tells a story. It’s a story about what and who we value, what we want for ourselves, our neighbors, and our children, and how we fight to win that world we want.

The 2018 ballot here in Massachusetts is no exception. In the coming months, most of the folks who are telling the story of our ballot are going to focus on the candidates -- and those candidates are important characters, especially given the dramatic results of the primaries -- but right now I want to talk about the real hero of the story: you.

Year after year, politicians at the very least disappoint us, and at worst, betray us. Just this past legislative session, our lawmakers in Massachusetts failed to pass the Safe Communities Act (which would have protected immigrant families from detention and deportation), Foundation Budget Review (which would have made funding for our schools more equitable), and a Wage Theft enforcement bill (which would have penalized employers for stealing their workers’ wages.) What they did accomplish was taking away time-and-a-half pay on Sundays and holidays from retail workers and passing a tax break for yacht clubs.

That’s why it’s so exciting that in our Commonwealth, we have the opportunity to go around the legislature and make our own laws through the ballot initiative process. If we can get enough signatures on a petition, we can put an initiative on the ballot, and if we can convince enough people to vote for it, our initiative will become law. It’s our chance to make it clear to politicians exactly what the people of Massachusetts stand for -- and to win the things we need for our communities.

This year, our ballot will include three ballot questions:Setting safe patient limits for nurses to improve the quality of care in hospitalsTaking the first steps to reversing the Citizens United decisionDefending transgender rights

Those measures might initially sound unconnected, but together, they tell their own story about the slow creep of extreme greed infringing on every aspect of our lives. It’s a story about the corporate agenda, the strategic plan for how the super-rich intend to beat down working people.

The great thing about the story of our ballot is that we are the ones who write the ending. The corporations may have their agenda, but we, the people, have an agenda too. By casting a YES vote on all three ballot initiatives, you can join with other working people in saying that we’ve had enough of exploitation and discrimination. You can write an ending to this election cycle that will make our hospitals better, our democracy more democratic, and our trans siblings safer in their communities. And together we can do it without waiting on politicians for the change we need now.

We hope you’ll take the pledge to vote yes on the three questions and help us spread the word about the People’s Agenda to folks who aren’t already engaged in this election. All of us at Jobs with Justice are knocking on doors, making calls, sending postcards, hosting gatherings of neighbors and friends, and doing everything and anything we can to make sure every potential voter in Massachusetts knows that we have the chance to make real gains for working people this November. When you take the pledge, you can also check the box to sign up to volunteer your time and join us in a united front to fight together against corporate greed -- because we know that when we fight, WE WIN.